Why iTunes U

Tunes or No Tunes?

We have Blackboard as our LMS and needed to create a way for rich media to feed into each course while being authenticated. We looked at Quicktime Streaming Server, Flash, even an enterprise type Youtube. None had a workflow that would really accommodate something that needed to scale as big as we wanted it to. Our university had been using iTunes U since its infancy with limited success. If a faculty needed a video clip in a Blackboard course, someone from IT would have to convert it and upload it using some scripts we had augmented from friends at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. In the four years we had used iTunes U, there were about 800 podcasts created. None of which were integrated with Blackboard. We needed to bring this all together. iTunes U has been a serviceable tool, but nothing earth shattering. There are many other tools that work with Blackboard. We just needed to find the right fit.

The Rumor Mill

Apple had not provided much support for iTunes U, which was a problem for us. As the buildup for WWDC ‘07 began to grow, we were hearing reports from Apple that there were going to be some significant upgrades in iTunes U and podcasting in the form of a podcasting tool that Apple was going to release to integrate with iTunes U. They unveiled Podcast Producer in conjunction with Leopard Server. The iPhone got tons of press, but the true gem of the conference was Leopard Server. Coming back from WWDC, we knew this was going to be one of two options for podcast capture and lecture capture.

Building Blocks

We worked with some other institutions and plodded through the iTunes U discussion boards to find some building blocks for Blackboard. The Baker building block and the Vanderbuilt building block. We tried implementing the Baker block first with some issues. I contacted Cindy Franco from Vandy for help in implementing their building block. She was great to work with, responsive, and helpful. Our network admin got the help he needed and we got the building block connected to our iTunes U site successfully. With the building block working, the next step was to cast vision to faculty on what iTunes U was and how it can work. Their experience with podcasting was by using the built in Blackboard podcasting tool. This bogged down our servers with tons of large files. Especially when a course was copied.

Final Verdict

iTunes U allowed us to serve up content in the cloud in an authenticated environment, with tools students are familiar with. Has it been successful? Kind of. I’ll review iTunes U in another post. Are we glad we decided to use iTunes U? Yes. But I’m not jumping for joy yet. However, Leopard Server and Podcast Producer could put me over the edge. The jury is still out.